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Editorial Greg Bordonaro | Editor, ext. 139 gbordonaro@hartfordbusiness.com Drew Larson | Web Editor, ext. 121 alarson@hartfordbusiness.com Michael Puffer | Staff Writer, ext. 145 mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com Beats: Real Estate, Economic Development, Banking & Finance Hanna Snyder Gambini | Staff Writer hgambini@hartfordbusiness.com Beats: Economic Development, Arts, Culture & Tourism Skyler Frazer | Staff Writer, ext. 145 sfrazer@hartfordbusiness.com Beats: Manufacturing, Cannabis, Technology, Transportation Stephanie R. Meagher | Lead Researcher Heide Martin | Research Assistant Steve Laschever | Photographer Business Tom Curtin | Publisher, ext. 124, tcurtin@hartfordbusiness.com Jessica M. Quinn | General Manager, ext. 137 jquinn@hartfordbusiness.com David Hartley | Senior Accounts Manager, ext. 130, dhartley@HartfordBusiness.com Daniel Schilke | Senior Accounts Manager, ext. 135, dschilke@HartfordBusiness.com Emily Paskind | Senior Accounts Manager, ext. 133, epaskind@hartfordbusiness.com Jaime O'Connor | Senior Accounts Manager, ext. 136, joconnor@hartfordbusiness.com Donna Hogan | Senior Accounts Manager, ext. 101, dhogan@hartfordbusiness.com Tracy Rodwill | Human Resources Manager trodwill@nebusinessmedia.com Production Bartosz Zinowko | Production Director, ext. 147 bzinowko@hartfordbusiness.com HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JANUARY 8, 2024 3 A rendering of Drink Mechanics' planned location at 30 State House Square in Hartford. Drink Mechanics to open downtown Hartford location A Connecticut-based canned cocktail startup is set to open its first location at the former Morton's Steakhouse in downtown Hartford. Drink Mechanics, which launched in 2020 during the pandemic, announced that it will open a distillery with a tasting room and full bar at 30 State House Square, sometime in 2024. Named State House Distilling by Drink Mechanics, the business will occupy about 8,000 square feet of the sprawling 1.3 million- square-foot office building across from Constitution Plaza. Renderings of the new distillery show indoor and outdoor seating areas. The founding partners of Drink Mechanics, Aaron Stepka and Taylor Gillaspie, took advantage of a state law passed in 2020 allowing cocktail delivery, to convert an ice cream truck into a mobile canned cocktail retailer. Drink Mechanics began distributing its products to liquor stores in 2022. The business currently sells five coctail flavors: Strawberry Fields, Christopher Oaxacan, Spa Water, Love It When Ya Call Me Big Papaya and Bourbon Legend. Manchester's Allied Printing acquires Bloomfield printing company A Manchester-based printing company, Allied Printing Services, has acquired XL Color Corp. of Bloomfield, allowing it to expand its line of printing products and services. Allied Printing is a family-owned, privately held commercial printing and direct-mail business that dates back almost 75 years. XL Color's operations will merge onto Allied's 30-acre corporate headquarters campus in Manchester. Allied offers high-volume digital printing and binding products and services, trade show signage, event banners, vehicle wraps, UV printing and coating, among other services. Deal terms weren't released. Auto paint company expanding in CT with Enfield lease A national auto paint and equip- ment company is expanding in Connecticut with a 45,000-square- foot lease in Enfield. Albert Kemperle LLC/The Wesco Group secured a five-year lease for industrial space at 215 Moody Road, which will serve as the company's Northeast distribution center. In January 2022, Wesco Group, a paint, body and equipment distributor in the western U.S. and Canada, acquired Albert Kemperle Inc., another auto paint, body and equipment company founded in Brooklyn in 1940. The company now has 283 locations around the U.S., including three in Connecticut that supply auto body shops with paint and equipment. The new distribution center will add about 15 new jobs for drivers, warehouse workers and managers. It will serve New England and upstate New York. $30M hangar development coming to Bradley International Airport A national business aviation infrastructure company is building a new, $30 million hangar at Bradley International Airport, the Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA) announced. Sky Harbour Group Corp., an avia- tion infrastructure company developing a U.S. network of hangar campuses for business aircraft, will spearhead the development of a new multi-hangar campus at the Windsor Locks airport. The partnership with Sky Harbour and the CAA includes a long-term lease to develop 8 acres of unused land on the Bradley International Airport property. Construction is expected to begin in 2025, airport officials said. Sky Harbour develops, leases and manages aviation hangars across the country that serve as campuses for private and corporate aircraft. New year means employers face min. wage hike The start of 2024 has ushered in a bevy of new laws in Connecticut, including higher wages for some workers. The minimum wage increased from $15 to $15.69 on Jan. 1, under a 2019 law that ties the hourly minimum wage to the Employment Cost Index, a federal index that tracks wages. It's the first time the economic indicator adjustment has occurred. The same 2019 law increased the minimum wage to $15 an hour in June 2023. The minimum wage was $11 an hour in 2019, and increased $1 each year through 2023. Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz has said the increase will affect about 10% of the workforce. Shelton-based Hubbell to sell lighting business for $131M Shelton-based Hubbell Inc. will sell its residential lighting business for $131 million, the company announced. Kingswood Capital Management LP, an investment company based in California, has agreed to buy the residential lighting business from Hubbell. The the business unit sells indoor and outdoor lighting and is expected to generate about $190 million in sales in 2023, Hubbell said. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024, pending closing conditions. Hubbell is a manufacturer of utility and electrical components, such as wiring devices, connectors and power distribution systems. The company had $4.9 billion in reve- nues in 2022, it said. RENDERING | CONTRIBUTED